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waldorf approach and curriculums for home schooling

does anyone have any personal experience with the waldorf approach to home schooling? another member told me about a very inexpensive waldorf curriculum online and my oldest sister sent her three kids to a waldorf academy so i have a vague idea of what it is.

so what are your thought and experiences about the waldorf approach to teaching children?

Yeah, they do not like black at all. Can't wear it, can't color with it either. Although, ironically, I did make a stuffed black wool felt cat for their holiday bazaar.

Quoting tansyflower:

my niece went to a waldof school (from 3rd grade on) and she also thought is lacked science and math. my sister (her mother) thought the academy itself was a bit strict with things that she didnt like. for example, they were not allowed to mix paint colors and taught the young children at that school that brown and black should not be part of a painting. that REALLY bothered her (she is an artist) and she felt like it was extreme. but they lived in Milwaukee and the public school system there was downright dangerous so they stayed with the waldorf academy after my sister had to go back to work and could no longer home school.

the things i like about waldorf is how focused it is on art, music and nature. my children love all these things and its my hope that i can use incorporate those aspects when teaching them reading, writing, math ect. i am not sure i would ever be able to stick with one curriculum 100% since i already lean more towards child led learning (unschooling) and am more focused on finding lots of different teaching resources to pull information from. i also really like the idea of teaching children to a rhythm rather than a time table. but thats just me :)

Quoting PinkButterfly66:

My daughter was in a Waldorf school for 2nd and part of 3rd after spending kindergarten and 1st grade in public schools. The curriculum was slow and boring for her. Ruldolf Steiner did not advocate teaching reading until 2nd grade and she was reading in kindergarten. The emphasis on making sure the kids get recess and hand work crafts (water color painting, knitting and bees wax sculpting) was one of the things that drew us to the school. But honestly, the curriculum is out dated (note: I have no experience on curriculum for upper grades -- we left because the school was holding her back). The curriculum was based on bible stories and mythology. Math was only really taught 2x a day which caused my daughter to lose ground in math. Waldorf bases its curriculum on 90 year old ideals of a man who had no background on childhood education, childhood development or child psychology. My advice would be to pick and choose carefully and supplement your curriculum with bits and peices of the Waldorf program.

Yeah, they do not like black at all. Can't wear it, can't color with it either. Although, ironically, I did make a stuffed black wool felt cat for their holiday bazaar.

Quoting tansyflower:

my niece went to a waldof school (from 3rd grade on) and she also thought is lacked science and math. my sister (her mother) thought the academy itself was a bit strict with things that she didnt like. for example, they were not allowed to mix paint colors and taught the young children at that school that brown and black should not be part of a painting. that REALLY bothered her (she is an artist) and she felt like it was extreme. but they lived in Milwaukee and the public school system there was downright dangerous so they stayed with the waldorf academy after my sister had to go back to work and could no longer home school.

the things i like about waldorf is how focused it is on art, music and nature. my children love all these things and its my hope that i can use incorporate those aspects when teaching them reading, writing, math ect. i am not sure i would ever be able to stick with one curriculum 100% since i already lean more towards child led learning (unschooling) and am more focused on finding lots of different teaching resources to pull information from. i also really like the idea of teaching children to a rhythm rather than a time table. but thats just me :)

Quoting PinkButterfly66:

My daughter was in a Waldorf school for 2nd and part of 3rd after spending kindergarten and 1st grade in public schools. The curriculum was slow and boring for her. Ruldolf Steiner did not advocate teaching reading until 2nd grade and she was reading in kindergarten. The emphasis on making sure the kids get recess and hand work crafts (water color painting, knitting and bees wax sculpting) was one of the things that drew us to the school. But honestly, the curriculum is out dated (note: I have no experience on curriculum for upper grades -- we left because the school was holding her back). The curriculum was based on bible stories and mythology. Math was only really taught 2x a day which caused my daughter to lose ground in math. Waldorf bases its curriculum on 90 year old ideals of a man who had no background on childhood education, childhood development or child psychology. My advice would be to pick and choose carefully and supplement your curriculum with bits and peices of the Waldorf program.

Yeah, they do not like black at all. Can't wear it, can't color with it either. Although, ironically, I did make a stuffed black wool felt cat for their holiday bazaar.

Quoting tansyflower:

my niece went to a waldof school (from 3rd grade on) and she also thought is lacked science and math. my sister (her mother) thought the academy itself was a bit strict with things that she didnt like. for example, they were not allowed to mix paint colors and taught the young children at that school that brown and black should not be part of a painting. that REALLY bothered her (she is an artist) and she felt like it was extreme. but they lived in Milwaukee and the public school system there was downright dangerous so they stayed with the waldorf academy after my sister had to go back to work and could no longer home school.

the things i like about waldorf is how focused it is on art, music and nature. my children love all these things and its my hope that i can use incorporate those aspects when teaching them reading, writing, math ect. i am not sure i would ever be able to stick with one curriculum 100% since i already lean more towards child led learning (unschooling) and am more focused on finding lots of different teaching resources to pull information from. i also really like the idea of teaching children to a rhythm rather than a time table. but thats just me :)

Quoting PinkButterfly66:

My daughter was in a Waldorf school for 2nd and part of 3rd after spending kindergarten and 1st grade in public schools. The curriculum was slow and boring for her. Ruldolf Steiner did not advocate teaching reading until 2nd grade and she was reading in kindergarten. The emphasis on making sure the kids get recess and hand work crafts (water color painting, knitting and bees wax sculpting) was one of the things that drew us to the school. But honestly, the curriculum is out dated (note: I have no experience on curriculum for upper grades -- we left because the school was holding her back). The curriculum was based on bible stories and mythology. Math was only really taught 2x a day which caused my daughter to lose ground in math. Waldorf bases its curriculum on 90 year old ideals of a man who had no background on childhood education, childhood development or child psychology. My advice would be to pick and choose carefully and supplement your curriculum with bits and peices of the Waldorf program.

Send me email updates about messages I've received on the site and the latest news from The CafeMom Team.
By signing up, you certify that you are female and accept the Terms of Service and have read the
Privacy Policy.